Ex-Clerk Sentenced To 18 Years as Spy

Published: September 25, 1997

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 24—
A former Army clerk at the National Security Agency who pleaded guilty to spying for the Soviet Union three decades ago was sentenced today to 18 years in Federal prison.

The former clerk, Robert S. Lipka, 51, pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage. Judge Charles R. Weiner of Federal District Court here handed down the maximum sentence allowed under the plea agreement.

Mr. Lipka, who was trained as an intelligence analyst, had top security clearance with the N.S.A. at Fort Meade, Md., where he was responsible for distributing and destroying classified documents.

From September 1965 to August 1967, he photographed documents with a camera provided by the Soviet agents and dropped off the film in a park for payments of up to $1,000 a drop, Government affidavits said.